5 comments:

Ice "Extent" is not very meaningful. It only describes the area of ice in two dimensions. It's just where the ice is... not how much. Ice "Mass" describes the actual amount of ice. The ice mass is declining and that is very meaningful. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/08/140820110538.htmhttp://climate.nasa.gov/key_indicators/#landIce

There is no doubt extent is greater in Antarctica but that is likely due to ozone depletion (Gillet 2003, Thompson 2002, Turner 2009) and fresh water land-ice melt on saltwater. (Zhang 2007, Bintanga et al. 2013)

The writer of the article is not in agreement with the referenced papers.They confirm mass loss. http://www.sciencemag.org/content/345/6199/919.abstract" West Antarctic Ice Sheet and the Antarctic Peninsula, on the far west of the continent, are rapidly losing volume, East Antarctica is gaining volume – though at a moderate rate that doesn’t compensate the losses on the other side of the continent"http://www.awi.de/en/news/press_releases/detail/item/record_decline_of_ice_sheets_for_the_first_time_scientists_map_elevation_changes_of_greenlandic_and/"The key element is the activity of humans who, since the beginning of the industrial revolution (around 1750), started to affect the natural environment on global scale:"http://www.cop19.gov.pl/about-climate-change

The second article's reference Cryosphere.net only recommends a new methodology also indicates mass loss. "The Antarctic Ice Sheet is the largest potential source of future sea-level rise. "Mass loss has been increasing over the last two decades in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS), but with significant discrepancies between estimates, especially for the Antarctic Peninsula."http://www.the-cryosphere-discuss.net/8/2995/2014/tcd-8-2995-2014.pdf